Paul was raised in Attleboro. His parents are retired pharmacists and small business owners. He spent many summers and days after school working in his parents' drug stores, where from a very young age he learned the hard work, service and the challenges and rewards of small business ownership.
The contract the city has with WM is one of the best and most affordable in the region. It’s pretty much impossible to do an apples to apples comparison from our city to any other surrounding community because the services we receive in our contract, and what we pay is different from municipality to municipality. However for the number of services we receive in Attleboro, we are paying far less than any other community in the area.
My goal with this trash contract was to provide as many services as possible and to keep the cost as low as possible in a time when trash and recycling fees are increasing everywhere in the world. There is a lot of question about the size of the blue barrels. I know some people don't like the new blue barrels. I use the blue barrel. The reason the barrel is the odd shape is is has to do with the requirement to be 35 gallons. If that inside spine that protrudes inward were eliminated, the barrel would be more than 35 gallons; we need to stay 35 gallons. If the barrel were designed to be shorter to eliminate the inner spine, the barrel would be too short to not allow the mechanical arm to pick up the barrel.
Let me explain why our contract's trash barrels are limited to 35 gallons. The city gets a $300,000 grant from the State DEP for having a contract that is 35 gallons. The grant is intended to encourage people to recycle more. That $300,000 is applied to the 14,000 rate payers. That amounts to about $21 off your rate per year. But it is not just $21 less per year we pay; if residents had a larger trash barrel they pay the $21 more plus the added cost of the added trash weight. We all pay less by using these 35 gallon barrels than if we had larger barrels. This is important because there are lot of people in Attleboro who cannot afford to pay more for trash and recycling. If the city were to decide to forego the $300,000 grant and get a larger barrel, our rate would increase well over $300 per year and there are a lot of people who just cannot afford that.
The good news is that if this contract does not fit your needs, you do not need to pay it. You can opt out of the city program and get a new contract with WM or another eligible vendor that meets your specific needs, including getting larger trash barrel. There are about 100 people out of the 14,000 homes in the city who get their own contract and use a bigger trash barrel.
​In full disclosure, the down side to opting out of the side contract is that you will lose many services (use of the compost center, paint drop off, hazmat drop off, old tire drop off, one TV per year take away, unlimited metal and electronics take away, amnesty bulk item take away three times per year, and a lot more). Also the cost for you to negotiate your own contract with WM or another eligible vendor will be much greater than what I have negotiated for you with WM. Typically when people opt of the city's contract, they pay $450-$600 per year for a larger barrel. Maybe that works for you, maybe not.
​The bottom line is that you have options.